Interactive Games for Education

It seems like there is a new report out every week about video games and learning. Some tout it's potential to positively impact learning, while others raise concerns about being 'too soft' an approach to teaching our kids. Last week I had the pleasure of learning about an exciting gaming project being co-developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Disney Online.

Hot Shot Business is a free Internet simulation game for 9-12 year olds that teaches kids about running their own businesses. The game blends the fun of interactive gaming, with important, real-world lessons that teach kids entrepreneurial concepts.

In the same vein as the Oregon Trail, Roller Coaster Tycoon and other simulation games, Hot Shot Business aims to engage, but to pack some valuable experiences in those having fun.

Take a look at the site yourself and tell us what you think about this approach to teaching and learning.

Online Professional Development that Integrates Video

This NSF funded project does a good job of bringing together the elements that engage and allow for interaction that builds learning. Teachers' Domain is a project by the Public TV station in Boston, producer of many of the leading scientific programs on PBS (like NOVA) and was built to showcase how their TV programs could be restructured to have more value online.

What interests me most is the design of the 'courses' that support the teaching of specific subjects. It is through the subject pedagogy that technology is embedded, and hence, the literacy skills are integrated.

What Nortel LearniT could and should provide are short tutorials that work around 'templates' of the materials that we can collect and/or provide that allow other teachers to do the same thing, but with other rich media materials that they have available. Growing adoption of rich media repositories from Discovery Education (United Streaming), NASA and others, are ideally postured to work with this strategy. What needs to be built, are the 'roadmaps', such as the structure within Teachers' Domain, that allows teachers to build a true learning experience around their core subject resources.

Do you know of other examples of similar online training using rich media collections?

m-Learning Is An Emergent Application

The Guardian (of the UK) is reporting on several recent initiatives to harness the near ubiquitous nature of cell phones for education and learning. This piece points out that many mobility applications in education connect with students who have trouble connecting with more traditional forms of learning.

I wonder if these (and other) initiatives are focusing on 'equal to' instructional objectives or if they are broaching higher achievement goals?

Would there be interest among schools to integrate training on how to use m-Learning from Nortel LearniT?

New Study Documents Tech Integration Challenges

"Effective Access: Teachers' Use of Digital Resources in STEM Teaching" takes a specific look at how high school teachers use digital libraries in their classrooms. The Education Development Center (EDC) was one of the earliest recipients of the National Science Foundations' (NSF) National Digital Science Library grants (NDSL). While the report is not 'generalizable' to all HS Science teachers, it offers an affirmation of many de facto interpretations as to the obstacles to broader adoption and more effective use of technology infused into teaching.

What I found most intriguing in the report was the sense that there is a major disconnect between developers of digital resources and users. This issue is at the core of Nortel LearniT's strategy to instead focus on building the capacity of users (teachers and students) to create digital resources that THEY need to enhance their instruction, as opposed to promoting a centralized production model (the source of the current 'disconnect').

Does this make sense to you?

Friends We Meet Along the Way

One of the best things about attending NECC is meeting so many talented and fascinating people. We are always happy to hear from teachers and students we've met, and learn about the wonderful things that they have been doing with technology infused learning. We met Jennifer this year at NECC and she dropped us a nice note to follow up on our meeting. We learned that she works with Gifted kids in Pennsylvania and is a fan of ASCD's Understanding by Design. We also are impressed with her review of Todd Oppenheimers' book "The Flickering Mind".

As for you, please take a moment to drop us a note and share the great work that you've been doing! staff@NortelLearniT.org